Wichita eagle., 1887-06-25
Daily eagle
HIS SUNDAY OFF.
A DAY WITH A CHINESE DUDE IN
MOTT STREET.

A Jersey Celestial Visits the Metropolis.
His Sunday CIothes-Carrying His Cash.
Getting Into Trouble-In Tom Lees
Cellar-Fan Tan.
Ching Look is dude, and, it is superfluous
to add. he washerwoman. He engineers q
laundry in Jersey City, and, though cheap
white labor is now undermining his trade by
doing UP collars at cent ard half, while
the high priced Chinese still stick to two
cents, he is comfortably off.
The Cinnamon in this country have taken
the places of men aboard the whale ships of
old. They work day and night in watches, "
one man turning into bunk when another
rolls out. BY conscientiously rolling in and
out day and night. charging two cents for
collars and living on five cents worth of beef
and twenty cents worth of vegetables six
days in the week, they are nearly all well to
do. They would be richer if there was no
Sunday, but on Sundays they ell gamble and
drink and dissipate in every way known to
us and in several ways that we don't care to
know, and that reduces the profits and pre-
vents their being really rich enough to buy
our aldermen and senators and become Of Do
Gtical Importance.
1t was Sunday. Ching Look put clean
shirt into coat-both coat and shirt being
exactly the same in size and shape, but the
shirt being of cotton, while the coat was of
the most Orientally dudesque lavender
colored silk. He had previously put on a
pair OF drawers that ended in such a flare of
linen that he swaddled his feet in it as we do
IN our socks. Then he had donned his white
soled, turned up shoes and his 81 misft
trousers. 1t is strange what hats and trousers
Cinnamon are able to buy. Where they get
them, and why, are among the Celestial mys-
ter1es- Once In ell his clothes he performed
simple act that showed that the Chinese
can quickly alter q national custom, even
when 1t is twenty centuries old. He did this
by curling up his pigtail On the back of his
head The San Francisco gamins had not
1lngled these human bell ropes for more than
three months, when every Chinaman on the
continent began to do up his hair, and thus
revolutionized an ancient custom as quickly
as the most conservative Jerseyman takes to
rye when he finds be can't get apple.
CARRYING HIS CASH.
Ching Look took $500 with him az be
started out for New York-S7O0 sewed in his
undershirt and 500 in his b7eeches pocket
III,
sented five years work and the swapping of
two laundries, as well as the wreckage of 260
Sundays in Mott street Every Chinaman
carries his money in this way, or else puts it
into his trunk. As young Capt. McCullagh
remarked the other day: "The crooks think
they are very clever, but the Chinese trunk is
snap they haven't got on to yet"
Ching Look battered on board the ferry
streets toward Mott street, the Chinatown Of
Gotham. To celebrate the holiday he bought
a fifteen cent cigar in snowy tobacco store
on Cortlandt street. Half a block further on
q tall and langud man in a red shirt reached
out as be passed Ching Look, took the cigar
from the Chinaman's mouth, thanked him,
put it In bis own mouth and went on, almost
without stopping. Ching Look did not pause,
either. In fact, he walked the more rapidly.
But he kept his face SO thoroughly under con-
troll that if you had seen him when the man
took his cigar you might have supposed that
he bought the weed on purpose TO have that
happen.
Twenty minutes later he was in Chinatown,
reading the Chinese morning paper. This
Oriental sheet is a most curious. periodical. 1t
consists Of a little piece of the side of house
posted all the reports Of news and all the ad-
refreshments of the Chinese colony, on red
paper, badly lettered with India ink. Every
Chinaman who has anything to say or to sell
contributes to this queer paper and publishes
his contribution with paste pot. Ching Look
read Of all the hundries then to let, of all the
ChinamSn who wanted laundries and of calls
to meetings, announcements of gambling
games, and, in short, all the news of the day
His enjoyment of the mental repast was in
terrupted by slight adventure. A ragged
lad, OF formidable face and breadth of shout
ders. swaggsred up TO him, shoeblaclling box
in hand and pointed TO Ching's shoes Ching
looked to sse what he pointed at and the lad
@pasted him." as he would term it, with a
quid of tobacco. 1t was deity done, without
exciting the Cldnamans suspicion beforehand
In the least, and SO thoroughly that Ching
Look imagined one eye burned OUT while half
his face WAS discolored The Chinaman meekly
wiped his face and the bootblac,l staggered
of with grin.
give got no use for ye," said the lad over
his shoulder
IN TOM LEES CELLAR.
Ching dropped down into Tom Lees cellar,
and. with a face as immobile as mask, told
before ard behind the counters, all with faces
posSessivs Of the emotional aspect of pump
kins. Eight of them grunted, and the ninth
took up roll of padded silk and poured tea
out of it into cup and handed it to Ching.
The padded silk had buried in it TO keep it
hot teapot. Ching sat down and drank,
and developed twinkle of happiness in his
leather face. There were no Caucasiaus there
70, ,,,-+ o-,I l,a OIL
men kept dropping in to buy dried chickens,
dried fish, dried geese, dried eelS, dried pota-
toes, dried rice, dried fruit, dried bay leaves,
dried tea leaves and wet opiunl-all imported
from China, and all obtainable here except
the tea and opium) in better condition and
at less cost. Those who knew Ching very
well called him dandy and joked him about
his clothes, for he was more extensively
dressed than any OF them, and he was younger
and better looking. They asked him if he
had come TO see the girls. and he replied No;
to gamble A little group formed and drop
ped into a cellar near by.
Ching said ne had about $50 to lose. lie
and his comrades gathered around a table
marked Of with two chalk lines ct right an
giles to one another, SO that the surface was
divided into four quarters The proprietor
brought out a lot of bits of ivory in basket.
the Others all got into chairs on their toes and
sat upon their heels, and the game of fan tan
began Ching lost steadily, and in the midst
of his losings gave crisp bin toa woe beSone
Chinaman who came in and told of long liz |
ness and the consumption of all his savings. |
All the other Cinnamon gave literally. as is
their custom, and the recipient looked yearn- |
ingly ~ the fan tan table, but managed to |
Withdrew without yielding 10 the strongest |